Increased Roads Subsidies Likely For Municipalities

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28894, 14 May 1959, Page 12

Increased Roads Subsidies Likely For Municipalities

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, May 13. The Minister of Works (Mr Watt) said in Auckland last night that legislation to be introduced at this session of Parliament is almost certain to boost National Roads Board subsidies to municipalities and have the effect of reducing those to counties. Mr Watt was discussing the financing of Auckland’s motorways scheme at a meeting of local M.P.’s with local body men. The proposed legislation is bound up with the five-yearly review of the National Roads Board system of paying subsidies. Officers of the board are now studying the recommendation of the Royal Commission on local authority finance, that subsidies should be based on roading ex- | penditure and not on population. | Mr Watt hinted strongly that this change would be brought about. It almost certainly would I

mean a bigger share of subsidies for municipalities and a smaller share for counties. The Minister said £lB million of the total £2O : million roads expenditure last year was spent in the counties, including State and main highways. “There has got to be a change,”’ he said. There must be a “drift” towards the idea of a special fund available to the board for assistance in special works. Under the present system almost all the board’s expenditure was committed at the beginning of a year. The board had spent £1 million last year on arterial routes in cities and boroughs. It looked as though that figure would have to be boosted to £3 million, or, [possibly £4 million, within the I next few years. The existing system provided for the spending of a maximum I of per cent, of board funds

as subsidies to counties and 10 per cent, to municipalities. “Over the last four or five years the counties have been right up to the maximum. But municipalities have never got more than 7 per cent.” A change to a system of basing subsidies on roading expenditure, instead of population, could bring municipalities up. That would mean overall subsidies to counties would go down in proportion. But it had to be remembered that there would be a growing flow of money to the National Roads Board through increase in petrol consumption.